The Missing Trident
by CampHB
Summary: When Poseidon's trident goes missing, Zach Hale, a son of Zeus is blamed. He has to go on a quest with Nico, Katerina a daughter of Poseidon , and a mortal named Selena. Please R&R! all i did was change the title and tweak the summary a little bit
1. Chapter 1

**Selena's Side**

My best friend is a demigod. Or that's what she claims.

Now you might already start to think that I'm a Mary-Sue kind of person, but I'm not. I'm not even close. I live with my mom because my mom and dad are divorced. I don't get that good grades in school. Mom is always at work from 5 to 11. I'm usually home alone. To me, my life is a total bummer. Miserable. Except for Katerina. She always understands no matter what.

Anyway, it all started at gym. We were playing dodge ball. Everything was normal. My BFF, Katerina Miller, was obviously out first since all the stupid people on the other team always aimed at her first. I kind of felt sorry for her because it must hurt being hit by like 50 balls.

Katerina had been my best friend ever since third grade when I saw her sitting alone at lunch. We'd stuck together from then since we looked like sisters. We both had dark hair and were tall and tan. Anyway, we were twelve and sixth grade was especially hard for Katerina. All the teachers in our school (especially Mrs. Maxwell, the reading teacher) always tried to make fun of her. Not to mention all the teasing she gets in the hallways. The freaks. I felt sorry because it was probably because of her dyslexia and ADHD.

Weird things had been going on ever since I was friends with her. I kept on having illusions that monsters were attacking Katerina. Except, they seemed real. For example, in fourth grade, there was a new transfer kid. During recess, he turned into this huge giant that tried to eat her. But somehow, she managed to stay alive. Everything that I saw seemed real but happened so fast that I had no proof that it actually happened. Sometimes it happened while we were in class and Katerina actually destroyed something. But she would just snap her fingers and manipulate the teachers that something else happened. I figured out that either it was my imagination going wild or I was hallucinating.

It was a perfectly average and typical school day until this huge, big dog came crashing into the gym. Glass shattered all over the floor and I saw an alarmed look cross Katerina's face. The dog was as large as a bus and was drooling slobber. It's short fur bristled. It's beady red eyes were trained on Katerina and it opened its mouth in a growl to reveal sharp canine teeth.

I guessed I was imagining things _again _until a piece of glass flew toward me and cut my leg. I flinched in surprise.

"Aw. What a cute poodle!" I heard a snobby girl squeal.

_Poodle! They call that a poodle!_ I thought. _That's about the size of the Yankee Stadium!_

"Kat!" I rushed over to her. Her eyes were fixed on the huge dog. She slowly reached to something at her side. It was that charm bracelet she always wore. She tapped it and two daggers appeared in her hand.

"What the -"

She ignored me and leapt forward. The dog charged, and she did a perfect somersault and landed on it. It tried to shake her off, but Katerina stayed on, only swaying a little bit. Then she sliced downwards and cut the monster. The dog howled before disappearing into golden dust. I saw her breathe a sigh of relief. She was safe. Wait. Let me rephrase that. She was safe _for now._

"This is not over yet. This is just the beginning, half-blood," I heard someone rasp.

"Hello, Mrs. Maxwell," a student said.

_Mrs. Maxwell!_

The woman that was standing in the gym doorway did _not _look anything like Mrs. Maxwell. Mrs. Maxwell had gray hair, a wrinkled face, and always wore long skirts and long-sleeved blouses. Instead, this woman's upper body was normal, but her lower body was like a snake. It was covered in sleek, shiny scales.

Katerina whirled around and curled up her lip in a sneer. Katerina sneering is creepy enough, but her sneering even wider made it ultra-scary.

"You," she spat. "You were here all the time?" I heard a hint of surprise.

"Yes. It was me all along." The snake-woman hissed and drew out two swords. "Now, die, half-blood."

The snake-lady moved at lightning speed and slithered across the gym floor. Katerina jumped out of the way just in time before the lady slashed at the air. She growled in frustration.

Suddenly, the sprinklers came on. I watched in awe as my best friend controlled the water to douse the woman. It wasn't enough but it did stop the monster long enough for her to run away. The snake-woman was gaining on her fast. Katerina stumbled over a piece of debris and fell. I felt rooted to the spot. I didn't want my friend to die. Then, I unfroze.

"Don't touch her!" I yelled as I launched my dodge ball. It hit the monster smack between the eyes and she spun around dizzily.

Katerina figured out what was going on soon enough and lashed out with her daggers. A second before the weapons even touched her, the former Mrs. Maxwell burst into flames. She scowled and cursed in a language I had no idea about.

Then I noticed the total chaos that surrounded us. It turns out that the fire the monster had exploded into had spread around the gym. The computer teacher rushed into the room and snapped pictures of Katerina. Kids were running around in circles and screaming their heads off. Teachers and students poured down the hall into the fire exit.

"Come on. We're leaving." I grabbed Katerina's wrist and pulled her along with me. She tried to resist, but I dragged her even harder.

I stomped down two whole blocks and yanked open my front door. Then I pushed her inside, locked the door, and sat both of us down on the sofa in the living room. _Hard._

"What is going on?"

"Um...Well..."

"What the heck is going on?" I repeated. "You better tell me. What was that_...thing_ pretending to be Mrs. Maxwell? Was there even a Mrs. Maxwell? Tell me the truth or else...," I threatened.

"You saw?" she gasped. "Selena, you saw?"

"Of course I did!" I shouted. "What did you think I was? Blind? Tell me what happened. Why did that dog attack you? And what about before. You know. In fourth grade. How come whenever I'm with you, crazy things happen?"

"Well...You see..."

"Let me say that again. Why did she call you a half-blood or whatever that is? And why did she try to kill you? How did you control that water?" I demanded.

Katerina hesitated.

"Why -" I started again.

I was cut off by the sound of a ringing doorbell.

"I'll get it," Katerina said quickly. She got up from the sofa as if it were a hot branding iron.

I slumped and heard her open the door. She ushered a boy in. He had blond hair and electric-blue eyes.

"You're late," she scowled.

"What is going on?" I screeched. "For the last time, tell me! Gosh! What is_ wrong _with you? Why is this..._person_ here? I should just punch the living daylights right out of you -"

"So this is the 'best friend' you've been talking about?" the boy asked dryly.

"Shut up!" I snapped. "It's none of your business."

"Selena, please," Katerina sighed. "Just sit down."

"Don't tell me to do anything! This is my house!" I yelled.

"Selena!"

"Don't tell me!"

"Selena Martinez, will you just shut up and sit down for one minute!" she roared.

Now, Katerina barely gets mad. I've never seen her so angry before. She looked furious and terrifying while her sea-green eyes bored into mine.

I was stunned and obeyed immediately. She glared at me and I glowered back at her. We stared at each other before my eyes teared up and I blinked.

"You lose!" she crowed. "I win again!"

I started laughing at the triumphant look on her face. She joined and soon, we were clutching our sides.

"Can we get focused?" the blond boy asked.

While we struggled to our feet, I heard him mutter something about how he would never understand girls. I decided to ignore that.

"Okay. First question. Who is this person?" I pointed to the boy standing in the middle of my living room.

"My cousin," Katerina answered. "Zach Hale."

"What were those creepy things back there?"

"A hellhound," Katerina replied uncertainly. "And a dracanae."

"A what?" I was confused.

"A dracanae," Zach explained, "is half snake, half female. It's a monster, obviously."

"Thank you, Mr. Encyclopedia. I wasn't talking to you." I still wasn't sure about this.

"Third, why did she call you a 'half-blood?"

This was the question that Katerina was stuck on. She looked at Zach for help, but he seemed just as nervous as her.

"Well...," she finally said. "I'm not really allowed to explain...Especially since you're a mortal..."

"Whoa. Whoa. Slow down. A lot," I said. "I'm still processing this. What do you mean 'I'm a mortal'? Are you different or something?"

"Kind of."

She glanced at her cousin.

"Shoot for it," was all Zach said. "She can see through the Mist."

Katerina swallowed before turning back to me. "You know about the Greek gods, right?"

"Yeah. Aren't they like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades? Stuff like that? Anyway, what do they have to do with anything?" I asked.

"Don't throw the names around like that," Zach told me warningly. "They have power."

"Fine."

"Well...Can you name a few heroes that had gods as their parents?"

"Um...Let's see...Theseus, Perseus, and...oh. Hercules," I said while racking by brain for more.

"Exactly. Those heroes are called demigods or half-bloods."

"But why?"

"One of their parents are one of the Greek gods. The other is mortal. They're half god, half mortal."

"Okay. What does that mean?" I was puzzled

"Well..."

"We're ones too," Zach blurted quietly. "Katerina is a daughter of Poseidon and I'm a son of Zeus."

The moment he said that, Katerina gave him a glare. He cringed a little.

My friend was the daughter of an ancient Greek god? That was impossible. But...Still...

_Oh. My. God._ I thought silently. Wait. Correction. _Oh crap._

**I really need a Beta-Reader. Anyone, please volunteer.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I kind of changed the plot a little bit. Sorry. I got another idea about how the story should be. :P**

**Nico's Side**

_Where are they? _I wondered.

I'd been tracking them ever since they left Camp Half-Blood. You're probably confused about what I'm saying right now. Let me explain. My name's Nico. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades. I'm a demigod, like most campers at Camp Half-Blood. That means that I'm half Greek god, half human. My dad's god of the Underworld, and my mom's...well...she's deceased, thanks a lot to my uncle Zeus.

A few days ago, the Oracle, Rachel Dare, had been at camp. She told Zach Hale, a son of Zeus, that something huge and important was going to happen soon, but the spirit of the Oracle hadn't told her yet. All she knew was that he needed to collect his quest members. Besides him, there would be two other demigods and a mortal. They were to find themselves and return to camp.

Zach picked his best friend Nick from the Nike cabin. He also grudgingly chose Katerina, a daughter of Poseidon. Anyone could see that they didn't get along at all, but Katerina was one of the most powerful half-bloods. I heard him groaning to himself as he sat down. I couldn't blame him. Katerina was annoying.

The night before they left, Nick got a bad rash from itching powder, courtesy of the Stoll brothers. Katerina and Zach had to leave without him.

I really wanted to get picked, but Zach's eyes glazed over me when he was choosing people. I felt like I had to go, so a few minutes after they left, I snuck out of camp and had been following them ever since.

I was so into my thoughts, I didn't notice a tree in front of me and slammed into it. A girl's face morphed in the wood.

She snapped, "Watch it!"

"Sorry," I muttered. "It's not my fault dryads are so touchy." I scowled at her.

"Am not!" he voice whined inside the tree.

I ignored her and kept on walking down the sidewalk. Suddenly, I saw Zeke's white t-shirt as he turned around the curb. I silently walked behind him and ducked behind a bush when he rang a doorbell at a house. I saw him being yanked in by Katerina and disappear into the house.

_This is weird. What is going on?_

Soon, I started getting bored. I walked to a nearby 7-Eleven and bought a Diet Coke. The cashier eyed me carefully like I was going to steal something, but hey, I'm not that kind of guy. That's more like Connor and Travis Stoll. I strolled out the door and leaned in the shadow of the store as I sipped my Coke. It was really hot outside, especially in my dark clothes. Then I felt something wrong. Something wasn't right, but I didn't know what it was. I felt my muscles tighten, and I instinctively reached for my Stygian iron sword.

A few minutes later, a gang of muscular, tough teens came walking toward my direction. They had huge muscles and glaring beady black eyes. Their shoulders were massive and they were really tall. Some had buzz cuts and some had earrings in their earlobes. The one guy that seemed to be the leader had a tattoo on his shoulder that had a hula girl on it and said 'I Love Babycakes.'

"Are we ready?" the leader asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes, sir," one answered.

"Good. What's the address?"

"524 Woodbridge Street," a teen read from a piece of paper.

"Good. We're approaching."

There was something suspicious about these kids. Then it clicked. Monsters. They were monsters. Laistrygonian giants. We'd battled them last year in New York. I glanced back at the way I had come from. The street was Woodbridge Street. I remembered the brass numbers on the door of the house Zach had went into. 524.

_Oh my gods, _I thought. _My friends are going to get killed._

I was panicked. Now, I rarely get scared, but this was a first. My friends were in trouble. Well, if you can call them friends. Since Katerina and Zach were also children of the 'Big Three' (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), genetically, they were my cousins. I didn't exactly like them, but I didn't exactly hate them. Either way, I knew that I had to save them and be the big hero, which I usually wasn't.

I crossed the street and ran down the sidewalk, past the giants. When I got the 524, I pounded on the door.

"Open up!" I yelled. "Quickly!"

Katerina wrenched the door open and looked startled.

"Nico?" she asked, surprised. "What are you...I thought you were -"

"There's no time," I said breathlessly. "We've got to go now."

"But-"

"I said NOW!"

Katerina crossed her arms and gave me her you-better-explain-things-now-or-else look. I groaned silently. This was going to take forever.

"Look," I told her. "Just listen to me. I'll tell you later. Please. C'mon."

"No," she told me stubbornly.

"Katerina!"

"No!" she shouted. "I'm not going to move and inch until you explain _everything _to me. Including why you were stalking us."

"I wasn't stalking you!" I protested.

"You call following us from Long Island to New Jersey 'not stalking'?" she asked, her eyebrow raised. Katerina smirked. She did have a point.

"Katerina, please," I sighed, exasperated.

"No."

I knew we weren't going anywhere until I told her what was happening. But I didn't have to tell her what was happening because the Laistrygonian giants just turned the corner and spotted us.

"Uh-oh," I whispered.

Katerina's eyes widened and she turned and called, "Zack, Selena, we have to go. I'm not kidding."

"Too late!"

The group of teens morphed into huge hairy monsters sharp, wicked clubs.

"Yum," the leader growled. "I smell delicious demigods."

"May we kill now?" a giant asked, eyeing us hungrily.

"Feed to your content," he answered.

They charged, their feet pounding down the street. Zach and another dark-haired girl appeared in the doorway to see them running towards us.

"Okay. We've got a problem," I murmured.

"Of course we do!" Katerina snapped. "What are you? Stupid? Color blind?"

"Stop fighting, you two," Zach hollered as he pulled out his sword. He swung at the first giant and it dissolved into dust. "Kill first. Talk later, dudes."

Katerina whipped out her daggers and I brandished my black Stygian iron sword. We fought ferociously while the other girl just watched.

I lashed the blade of my weapon into one of the uglies' face and cut his head off. His still-moving bottom stumbled backwards and crashed into someone else's house, creating a giant crater in the roof. I flinched at the noise.

I saw Zack raise his hand and aim lightning with his free hand. The volts of electricity slammed into the leader's chest and he was pushed back a few feet, but he seemed pretty much fine. Zach blinked in confusion and jumped out of harm's way before a bulky fist smashed the sidewalk, sending chunks of cement and debris in every direction.

I glanced over at Katerina and saw that she was fighting as hard as she could. Two Laistrygonians had surrounded her and she was dodging the huge fists and stamping feet while blasting them with water the whole time. She was starting to look tired.

"Katerina! Get out of the way!" I yelled as I concentrated. I willed two columns of stone to crush the giants together.

Katerina leaped and landed on pavement, hitting it hard as two heavy slabs of obsidian erupted from the ground. They closed in on each other, smashing the giants into one big sandwich in the middle of the road.

Meanwhile, mortal neighbors had come out to the street. Cars were swerving away from the street. Drivers were staring at us. Some were screaming. Some were watching with their mouths agape. Some were dialing on their cell phones and jabbering and pointing to us while they talked. I managed a wry smile and waved to them. It's great when you're a celebrity of destroying things. I hoped things through the Mist didn't look that bad. The Mist was a magical veil that covered what was really happening to look like something else.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Katerina. She looked a little shaky.

"Thanks."

"No problem," I said. "You owe me one."

We started running toward Zack. He was still battling the lead Laistrygonian. I raised by sword to charge, but Zack called, "Watch out!"

I ducked as a huge metal club whistled over by head, and Katerina stabbed it with her dagger. If I had ducked a second later, I would have become Nico-Kibble.

While Zach was distracted, the leader took the chance to raise his club.

"Zach!" Katerina screamed.

Both of us tried to run toward him, but we couldn't move. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. While Zach trembled under the shadow of the club, I saw something run to the porch. I watched my friend cower under the huge metal mallet when, _Thunk! _Something hit the Laistrygonian giant smack in the middle of its forehead. It only stunned him for a moment, but Zach took that moment to raise his sword and dig it deep into the giant's calf.

He screamed a long string of cuss words that I don't want to repeat and dissolved in the middle of the street. I still remember his last words: "Babycakes! You cursed demigods! I will have your soul. I will throw your spirits into Tartarus and imprison you forever! I will -"

"Not going to happen anytime today," I muttered.

I sighed and looked out at the destroyed road. It looked like a meteor shower had just decided to come crashing down on everything. Most of the houses were ruined. Cars were crumpled like aluminum foil. Chunks of pavement were lying everywhere.

"Selena!" Katerina yelled to the dark-haired girl. "Nice throw! Oh, and, get your stuff! We're leaving!"

Selena looked as if she wanted to argue, but with that look on Katerina's face, she knew better. She scrambled into the house and clambered down the front steps.

"Where are we going?" I asked Katerina.

"I'll tell you later. First stop, bus station."


	3. Chapter 3

**Zach's Side**

I waited as Selena grabbed her drawstring backpack and ran down to follow us.

"Come on," Katerina urged. "Faster."

I could tell why she was nervous. Nico, her, and me were half-bloods, children of the Greek gods. We were kids of the 'Big Three'; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. If the three of us were together, it would send all the monsters in New Jersey and probably some of the monsters in surrounding states a huge alert that there were half-bloods in this area. Our auras combined were really powerful. I was a son of Zeus; Katerina was a daughter of Poseidon; and Nico was a son of Hades.

"Where are we going?" Nico asked.

"I'll tell you later," Katerina answered. "First stop, bus station."

* * *

A few minutes later, Selena got us on a bus headed to New York. We climbed inside and Selena, Katerina, and Nico sat together. I sat behind them.

"Nice job, Selena," Katerina commented.

"What?" She looked confused.

"The tissue box," she said.

"Oh. Thanks."

"You know, you saved Zach's life. Kind of."

I blushed a little bit. It kind of embarrassing when you were saved by someone throwing a tissue box at a big giant.

"You should have seen your face," Katerina went on. "It was so funny! You were all like, _Oh my gods, I'm going to die.'_ Your face was all scrunched up like this." She wrinkled up her face.

I felt my face turn red. Katerina can be really annoying sometimes.

"Shut up," I whispered.

"Yeah," Nico agreed.

I was surprised for a moment. Nico had been so quiet, I forgot he was there.

"You shut up, Goth Boy," Katerina whined. "It's your fault that the monsters attacked."

"What? My fault? Hey, I didn't make it happen. You wasted time because 'You have to tell me! I'm not going anywhere until you explain!'" Nico did a bad imitation of how Katerina talked. "My fault? More like you and your big fat mouth!" Nico spat, his voice rising.

Katerina's cheeks turned beet red. I knew Nico had pushed her over the edge. If I didn't interfere soon, she would explode.

"Guys…" I tried.

"Shut up, Nico!" Katerina yelled. "It's not my fault! You wouldn't tell me," she accused. "If you did –"

"Guys!" Selena interrupted. "Keep it down!" Her face was almost as scarlet as mine. We were both embarrassed. "People are watching."

Katerina ignored her and went on. "Well, Goth Boy, if you told me what was happening –"

"Kat!" Selena whacked her on the shoulder hard.

Katerina's face registered a moment of surprise before she shoved Selena into the window. "What!"

"Hey! What's going on back there!" the driver called. "If you don't stop yelling..." He pointed toward the door.

"Zip it!" I hissed.

Both of them obeyed, but they glared at each other. Selena sighed as she watched them glower. It must be hard sitting beside them. She gave me an exasperated look and motioned to sit with me. I nodded, and she got up and scooted over to me.

"They're annoying, aren't they?" was the first thing that I blurted. I silently cursed myself. I wasn't so good around girls.

Selena nodded. "Katerina's…well…impulsive and aggressive sometimes." She glanced at the seat in front of us. "I hope she didn't hear that. She would kill me."

I laughed.

"So where were you going to in New York?" she asked.

"Long Island," I replied. "I have to do something there."

"Oh. So you have to go save the world and stuff like that? I guess it must be really fun."

"You've got to be kidding."

She laughed. To me, it sounded like music. I found myself looking at her intently while she stared out the window.

"What?" she asked when she turned around.

"What?" I echoed absent-mindedly.

"You look funny."

I blushed for about the tenth time.

"Anyway, I don't really get what half-bloods or monsters or Greek mythology have to do with anything," she said. "I mean, to me, Katerina is a normal kid. She's my friend. Not some daughter of a god or goddess or whatever wacky thing out there."

"It has to do with everything," I answered. "The gods move where the flame burns brightest. Obviously, it's in America now. What you call the 'Western Civilization' is what the gods control. For example, our country's seal has an eagle on it. The eagle is a sacred symbol of Zeus, the ruler of the gods."

"And isn't Zeus like your dad or something?"

"Uh, yeah."

"So where would they live? The gods probably live somewhere, don't they?"

"Mt. Olympus," I said. "Technically, it's located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building right now."

Selena's jaw dropped. "You're joking."

"No, I'm not."

"That's impossible! There is no 600th floor!"

I shrugged. "You decide."

Selena watched the window for a couple more minutes. It's hard for her to take in. A so called reading teacher almost killing her BFF. Then her best bud claim to be a daughter of a culture long past. Then giants destroying her neighborhood and almost killing her best friend (for the second time). Then having to run away with her best friend and two other boys: one goth; one...

Well, you have to give her some credit. All this in one day and she didn't freak out yet. Hopefully.

She finally turned around and took a deep breath. "Fine. I believe you. But it seems so impossible…Okay. Are there any more surprises?"

"I think that it would be better for you to find out at camp," I decided.

"Camp?" She looked confused. "Oh, look. We're at our stop."

The bus pulled into the curb, and Selena tapped Katerina on the shoulder.

"What!" she snapped.

"We're here."

Nico and Katerina didn't move.

"Guys," I sighed.

Nico finally got up from his seat and stomped off the vehicle. I grabbed Katerina's wrist and pulled her off. Selena hailed a taxi and waved us in.

"Where to?" the driver grunted.

"Long Island, please," I replied.

"You got money, kid?" he growled. "I don't take no people who have no money."

"Yeah. I've got bills."

The cab driver stepped on the gas and roared away from the city into the countryside part of New York. We were all bounced around when he hit a ditch and almost fell in.

"You know we're not paying you to get killed," Katerina yelled from the backseat.

"I'm not going to get you killed, missy," he said.

"Yeah. I can tell," she muttered.

A few minutes later, Nico called, "Stop here."

He pulled on the brakes and the taxi screeched to a sudden halt.

"Why d'ya want to get off here?" the driver asked. "It's nothing but grass and cows out here."

"We're getting off here," I said firmly. "How much?"

"Twenty bucks."

Selena handed him a crisp twenty and he roared away in the opposite direction.

"Where do we go now?" she asked.

"Up there." I pointed to the hill where Thalia's pine stood.

She gave me a puzzled expression, but followed us. When we reached the top, she slammed into something.

"Ow," she groaned. Selena reached out as if there was something in front of her. "There's a wall," she said.

"Oh. I forgot. You can come," I said.

As if by magic, Selena's hand passed through the invisible barrier that was there. She went through cautiously. Her face changed when she saw what was in the valley below her.

"Whoa," she breathed. "What is this place?"

I looked at the surrounding forest, the cabins, the arena, and the Big House before answering her.

"This is Camp Half-Blood."

* * *

**Sorry I haven't been updating this for a long time. I had to go on vacation.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Katerina's Side**

The moment I saw the familiar features of Camp Half-Blood, I forgot all about being mad at Nico. The four of us stood by Thalia's pine, taking in what we saw. It was a little late in the afternoon. Some campers were playing volleyball. A cabin was having their archery lesson at the shooting range. The cabins were spectacular, though. When the warm sunlight poured onto the cabin rooftops, each glimmered with their own unseen light. Some cabins were still being built.

"So this is the summer camp you always go to?" Selena asked me, a hint of awe in her voice.

I nodded.

"So it means that everything you've tried to tell me is true?"

I nodded again.

"Zach!" I heard a voice cry. Below us, Chiron was galloping in our direction. His horse parts were milky white in the sun's rays. My half-brother Percy Jackson and his girlfriend Annabeth Chase ran behind him.

"Kat!" Percy gave me a big hug, and the sharp, salty scent of the ocean hit my nose. I hugged him back. He was sixteen and you could see a little dark hair sprouting at his upper lip.

Annabeth also gave me a hug and studied me with those stormy gray eyes.

"Have you seen Nico?" Percy asked anxiously. "He disappeared a few days after you left..." He took a quick glance at my mood. "So he _is _with you. Did he make you that mad?"

"You think?"

Annabeth changed the subject. "Who's that with you?"

Selena was staring at them as it they were a new species of creatures.

"Oh, um...she's my friend." I gave her a hard nudge.

"Selena, this is my brother, Percy, and his girlfriend, Annabeth."

"Uh...hi," was all Selena managed.

"This is kinda hard for her to understand," I explained to them. "It's new to her."

"...Monsters?" we heard Chiron say. "What monsters? Tell me on the ride to the Big House."

He slung Zach and Nico on his back and called, "Connor! Travis!"

"Uh-oh," I muttered. If anything involved the Stoll twins, it was trouble.

The sons of Hermes swooped down from the sky with their winged shoes. They looked almost identical. Connor and Travis Stoll both had curly brown hair, goofy smiles, and mischevious glints in their eyes. They snatched Selena and me of the ground.

"What the -" Selena began.

"The Stoll brothers, at your service," Travis announced with a straight face.

"Where are you taking us?" I asked.

"The Big House! Duh!" Connor rolled his eyes.

"Let us down!" I yelled. "Gods! If I catch you after this, you are going to be so sorry, you'd..."

Connor laughed and flipped a few times in the air before blasting foward with incredible speed. I felt nausea rise up. I started to get scared.

"Let me down!" I yelled again. Connor ignored me.

"Is everyone at camp like this?" Selena shouted.

"Only these two are. They're freakin' stupid sons of Hermes."

"Who's that?"

I sighed. Selena and her lack of Greek mythology. "Basically he likes to prank people. A lot."

"Yeah. I can tell."

"He's not just stupid god that goes around playing jokes," Travis scoffed. "He's fastest of all the gods."

"And the cleverest, too," Connor added.

"I'll tell the Athena cabin you said that," I threatened.

"You mean the geek cabin."

"Shut up!"

"Oh, so what now? Poseidon is backing up Athena? They're rivalries. Or is it because Percy dated Annabeth?"

The brothers laughed and Connor dangerously dangled me near a tree. The nausea rose up again and I hoped my digestive system would agree with me.

"Let us down!" I yelled for the last time.

"Why?" Travis asked teasingly. "Are you scared of heights?"

"Um...well...," I stammered.

I saw Connor wink at Travis before Selena yelled, "Guys! We're going to crash!"

We were heading full-speed toward the attic window. Selena and I were screaming. I thought we were going to die. At the last second, Travis and Connor dived down right through the open door of the Big House. We skidded to a stop in front of a pair of dirty sneakers. They were attatched to purple sweatpants that were attatched to a lepoard-print shirt that was attatched to a pudgy head.

"So you made it," said a disappointing voice. "I thought that you were dead."

"Mr. D," Chiron warned.

"All right. All right. Even if there's only fifty years left, do I still have to appreciate these brats?"

Mr. D, the camp director was a small, fat man with a mass of unruly, curly black hair and beady purple eyes. I didn't exactly like him and he obviously didn't like any of us.

I nodded curtly to him and sat down with Selena. Connor and Travis backed uneasily out of the room. Nico and Zach were already in the room.

"Who is your little friend, here?" Mr. D. asked dryly.

"Oh, her," Nico said. "Her name's Selena. She's a mortal."

There was an uncomfortable silence. I still glared at Nico and he glared back at me. He definitely didn't forget our argument on the bus.

I felt Selena poke me in the ribs and roll her eyes. She was a little annoyed.

"So...the monsters?" Chiron prodded.

Zach nodded and let me explain.

"Well," I began, "first it was at gym. Our reading teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, was actually a _dracana. _She attacked right after a hellhound."

I heard Chiron curse under his breath.

"And then after that, Zach showed up at Selena's house. We kinda explained things to her and then Nico came along. He _had _to stall time and then -"

"Me?" Nico's voice rose. "_I _stalled time? Are you kidding? You're the one -"

"Yeah, right. You just couldn't tell me that there were giants attacking and we were about to get killed. Well, obviously that happened because you have a tiny brain. It's a midget!"

"_My_ brain a midget! You're kidding. 'Cause _yours _is as small as a pea!"

"What!" My face turned red. _Nico is so going to pay for that! _"So what now? I'm a pea-brain?"

"Yeah. You know what?"

"What?" I was ready for any comeback.

"At least I have a brain. Unlike some no-brainer like you!" he spat.

"Shut up!" I yelled. "Boys like you..." I clenched my fists. I wasn't aware of anybody around me.

"Yeah? What about me, huh?" Nico asked, his voice allowing sarcasm to come through. His voice sounded higher than usual.

"Boys like you..." I started again. Then I noticed how he looked. Despite the fact that he _was _kinda goth, he was cute. He had dark hair that was messed up right now so it looked good on him. His olive skin looked smooth. His eyes were a deep chocolaty brown. He was freakin' hot! "Boys like you..." _Dang, _I thought. _He pissed me off!_

I took a deep breath and said my sentence. "Boys like you...Are the worst kind!" I blurted. "I'd lose my appetite just by looking at you! I'm being plain stupid by going on a quest with a loser like you!"

"Well," Nico retorted, "maybe I shouldn't go on this quest."

"You shouldn't! Besides, who invited you?"

"Maybe I should quit!"

"See if I care."

There was silence around the table before Chiron cleared his throat. That brought me back to focus.

"That's enough from both of you," he said sternly, looking at both of us carefully. "Now, onto the topic. Zach, do you care to tell what happened?"

"Um..."

I saw that both Selena and Zach were shocked. She was staring at me uneasily.

"What!" I snapped.

She looked away.

"Um...oh yeah. And then after that, some Laistrygonian giants appeared and wrecked the street. And that's about it," Zach concluded.

From Chiron's expression, that must have been really bad.

"Is it that dangerous?" Selena cautiously asked.

"Yes. Yes. I believe it is. This has not happened since the defeat of the Titan lord Kronos." Chiron wrung his hands nervously.

"Whatever it is, it's a pity they're not dead," Mr. D. muttered while flipping around in his wine magazine.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Well, you'll all return to your cabins for your activities," Chiron said.

"What about me?" Selena was confused.

"We'll give you a room in the Big House. If you want, you can join the Hermes cabin in their activities. During the meals, you'll sit at the head table." Chiron paused and smiled at her. "And don't worry. You're not the only mortal here. Rachel Elizabeth Dare is also here if you need any help."

"Uh..okay."

* * *

A few minutes later, Selena and I were walking toward the arena to the Hermes cabin.

"What am I supposed to do," she panicked. "I have no idea how to sword fight. And what if I get hurt?"

"Don't worry," I said. "If they use celestial bronze today, you'll be invincible."

"What?"

"Oh. Celestial bronze weapons are made in Mt. Etna and then cooled in the waters of the River Styx. One touch of it to a monster, and it disappears instantly. But it's harmless to you mortals. You're just not that important to kill."

Selena let out a breath of relief. "Glad to know that."

"Like I said, they might not be using celestial bronze, though. They might be using practice swords."

As we neared the arena, Selena asked, "Why does Chiron want me to practice? I mean, I'm not a half-blood."

"You might not be killed my celestial bronze weapons," I answered, "but monsters can still kill you. Usually you don't see that happen, but that's because they're all after us. Since you're going to go on a quest with three of the most powerful half-bloods in the world, it might be better if you knew how to handle one."

"Oh."

"Well, good luck." I left her with the Hermes cabin at the arena when I suddenly heard a shout from the beach.


	5. Chapter 5

**Selena's Side**

The minute Katerina left, Connor and Travis personally ushered me to the center of the arena where the rest of the Hermes cabin stood waiting.

"Here," Travis said as he handed me a metal sword with leather wrapped around the hilt. I immediately dropped it.

"Its heavy," I told them sheepishly.

"I thought so." Connor grinned at me.

Travis handed me another sword, this one was a little lighter and I hefted it up easily.

"This one's better," I announced.

"Great." Connor led me out of the storage and back into the arena.

"Cabin 11!" he yelled. "Meet your newest activity member, Selena."

The whole cabin whistled and cheered.

"She won't be staying in our cabin because she's a mortal, but she will be joining us," Travis said.

"Um... right," I answered uneasily. The Hermes kids all had curly brown hair and a look that made you think that they were going to stuff something down your back when you turned around.

"Anyway, everyone get in pairs!"

Suddenly, a camper rushed into the arena. "Connor! Travis!"

"Hey, Jack," Travis called. "What's wrong?"

"Zach...he...," he panted.

"What? Zach? What happened to him?" I demanded.

"Down at the firework beach."

I started running out of the arena toward the beach Katerina had showed me. Somebody grabbed my waist from behind and whisked me into the air.

"Connor!" I shrieked.

He shrugged. "I'm giving you a free ride to the beach. You want it or not?"

"I don't want any favors from you," I mumble. From what Katerina told me, they seemed pretty bad. But it didn't matter right now. Zach was in trouble.

A few minutes later, Connor gently deposited me on the sand. Percy, Katerina, and the Apollo cabin were still. Their eyes were glued on something in front of them. I followed their gaze and saw...Zach?

He was standing on the water about a good thirty yards away from me. The water was swirling around him, making a huge whirlpool. Wind whipped around his face, blowing strands of blond hair into his eyes. Clouds surrounded him. Lightning flashed.

"Zach!" I yelled. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

He turned toward me. His face was stricken with fear. Suddenly, his electric-blue eyes flickered to green. Green like a dangerous cat's: beautiful but deadly. He smiled cruely at me and the ocean propelled him forward.

"Zach!" I called again.

"Help him! Please!" I pleaded to anyone. But they were all still. I tugged on Percy's arm. No movement. I stretched Katerina's cheeks, hoping to make her mad. No luck either. I shoved Connor the ground. Still, nothing. It seemed like they were all frozen in time. But I wasn't.

Zach was now almost at the shore. I decided to face him. But what about the whirlpool? He turned his green eyes on mine.

"It's no use, mortal," he said in a voice. It was different from his. It was a little higher and more...female. "Soon I will control this earth."

I knew that I shouldn't get close to this kind-of-possessed boy. There was a dark feeling around him. I didn't have to be a half-blood to know it. I did the most impulsive thing that I could think of. I slapped him on the cheek. Hard. Then I shook his shoulders, almost pushing him off the water.

"Zach!" I screamed. "Get a grip!"

That seemed to jar him awake from whatever trance he was in.

"Cursed mortal!" I heard a voice in the wind shriek. "You will pay for this!"

"Selena? What -" he began. Then he slumped to the shore. The water had died down. The clouds and lightning had disappeared. The only evidence of what happened before were ripples around Zach's body and a cool wind.

"Selena?" I heard Katerina ask. "What's wrong? Why are my cheeks stinging?"

Connor looked confused as he pulled himself up. "Why am I on the sand?"

I didn't answer.

"Selena? Why's Zach on the ground? What happened to him? Is he dead?"

"Don't you remember?" I said in a shaky voice. "The wind? The waves?"

"What?"

Zach's eyes suddenly fluttered open. "Selena?"

His eyes were normal now - a bright blue.

"Zach. Do you remember?" I pushed blond strands of his hair out of his face.

"Remember what?" He was as puzzled as the others.

As I slowly stood up, I thought about what had just happened. It seemed that I was the only one that had witnessed the whole thing.

* * *

We were all silent as we walked to the pavilion for dinner. It was huge with large marble columns and square tiles on the ground. There was no roof and you could see the clear sky above.

Kids slowly filed in and took their seats. The Apollo cabin had golden hair and looked athletic. The Hephaestus cabin had a few teens, but they had big muscles. Percy and Katerina sat at the Poseidon cabin's table. Zach and Nico were the only ones at their table.

I took my seat at the head table with Chiron, Mr. D., and a red-headed girl I had never seen.

"Hi," she said. "You must be Selena. I'm Rachel. Rachel Dare." She smiled at me. "Tough day?"

"You bet," I mumbled. "It's all too much for me."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

"Ha. Tell me about it."

"Greetings, heroes," Chiron began. "Before we eat, I have one announcement to make. A new camper will be joining us."

Whispers filled the pavilion about which cabin the camper would be in.

"But, she will be staying in the Big House, though, because she is a mortal. Please welcome Selena Martinez."

I stood up and everyone cheered. Only Mr. D. was the one looking bored.

"Now, eat." Chiron waved his hand and a table filled with food.

I filled my plate with a slice of pizza and some fries.

"Come on."

Rachel guided me toward the huge golden braizer at the middle of the pavilion.

"Here," she said. "Watch me."

She scraped some of her potato salad into the braizer and mumured, "Apollo."

"Here. Your turn."

I tossed some fries into the gold bowl. "Um...What am I supposed to say," I hissed at Rachel. "

"The name of any god or goddess," she whispered back.

"Uh..." A name popped into my head. I had a lack of Greek mythology and didn't know who it was, but I said it anyway. "Hestia."

Rachel's eyebrows rose as the smoke curled into the air. "Interesting choice."

"I have no idea who she is," I admitted.

"Hestia is the goddess of the home and the hearth. Basically, she's kind of like the protection from home. You could count her as the most gentle but caring goddess."

Later, Percy came up to Chiron and whispered something in his ear. Chiron's face went pale. "What?" Percy whispered some more and he pounded his hoof agains the stone tiles.

"Attention, campers," he announced. "I have been told that something has occured on the beach today. Percy, do you care to tell us?"

"Well...the Apollo cabin and the Zeus cabin were having swimming lessons with me and then suddenly, everything went black. Like I was having a coma. But I could feel like I wasn't. My brain was still functioning. I couldn't move either. The next thing I knew, I was on the beach again. Everything was normal except the fact that Zach was lying down and Selena was standing over him. I thought he was dead. and then Selena said something about remembering what happened, but I have no idea." He shrugged.

"Was it all the same to the other cabins?" Chiron asked.

The Apollo cabin nodded.

"Good. Now, Selena. Please tell us what happened."

I slowly stood up and Rachel gave me an encouraging nod. I a small voice, I explained what happened.

The whole camp was stunned to silence.

"I have no idea what it was," I said. "It just didn't feel right."

"Well, onto a happier note," Chiron said uncomfortably, "we will be having Capture the Flag tomorrow. Cabin 11 seems to be holding the laurel."

Whistles and cheers came from the Hermes cabin.

"Now, anyway, onto your silly little campfire," Mr. D. interrupted. "And don't be up past curfew."

* * *

After sitting around the campfire and roasting marshmallows, the embers began to die down. Most of the campers began to head back to their bunks, but I stared at the fire. I could swear that I saw a girl's face in the flames for a moment.

"Don't be afraid," a gentle voice in my head said. "I will protect you."

Zach plopped down beside me. "Hey."

"Hi."

He studied me carefully in the dimming light. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I sighed and rested my head in my hands. "I just want to go home. I mean, what about my mom? She'll think that I've been kidnapped."

"Hey, don't worry. Chiron will figure it out."

"I...I should get some sleep now," I said.

I left Zach there and crept up the stairs of the Big House into my assigned room. The moment I lay down on my bed, I immediately knocked out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Do you guys mind if you review? I've had like 300 people read my story, but only 6 reviewed. PLEASE REVIEW!

* * *

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**Nico's Side**

I woke up to a dark shape in front of me. It was a rectangle, covering my eyes. I reached up and grabbed the object. A piece of cardboard and tape dangled from my hand. On it was one word printed in big, fat block letters:

**LOSER!**

_Katerina! _I sprang out of my bunk and didn't bother to change my clothes. Katerina! That loser was calling _me_ a loser? Now that didn't make any sense. It was payback time.

Now, you might be thinking, what's so bad about me? Think about this. What's so bad about me when I just woke up? I don't think you want to know.

I slammed the door to my cabin and stomped across the grass to cabin 3. I rattled the doorknob. Locked. I did the first thing that popped into my mind.

"Katerina! Get out here!" I shouted as I pounded on the Poseidon cabin's door.

No answer.

"Katerina!"

Stil no answer.

"Get out now!"

I finally heard something inside the cabin move around. Someone opened the door. It was Percy.

"Oh, hey, Nico," he said sleepily.

"Where's your freakin' stupid sister?" I demanded.

"What? Katerina? What did she do this time?"

I shoved the cardboard in his face. "See for yourself."

"Whoa, little dude. Calm down." Percy rubbed his eyes and steered me into the cabin. "What's wrong?"

"Ask her," I shot back.

Katerina was standing by her bunk. She had a smug cat-who-ate-the-canary look and was trying to stifle a laugh.

"You freak!" I yelled. "Why did you do it?"

"Did what?" she asked innocently.

I tossed the paper on the ground. "You...you..." I turned around. I couldn't prove that she did it. I threw my hands up in frustration. "Never mind! I'm leaving!"

I was at the doorway when I felt something push me from behind. I fell flat on my face.

"Katerina!"

She was rolling on the floor with laughter. Percy was stunned.

"I'm going back to sleep," he said. "You two figure it out. Katerina, go."

"What?" She picked herself up from the floor.

"I'm tired," he yawned. "You can come back in when you figure out what's wrong."

"But Percy..."

"It's not that hard," he said before closing the door in our faces.

"Look what you did now!" she screeched at me.

"Me? I don't care. Not my problem," I said before starting back to my cabin.

"Oh no, you don't!"

I heard rushing water and a wave crashed on me. I was soaked.

"What the heck?" I turned around

She was behind me. The sun was rising behind her, outlining her dark hair with a aura of gold. Her sea-green eyes sparkled with energy. Her coral-colored lips were lifted in a smirk. I had to admit, she was...pretty. _What? Nico! Get a grip! She's Katerina! That annoying girl from the Poseidon cabin!_ Yet, she didn't seem that way in the rising sun. She looked like a goddess.

"What's the matter, Bone Boy. Scared?" Another wave of water crashed into me.

The cold water brought me back to reality. _She's Katerina, and she'll always be Katerina. If you want revenge, get revenge. _I thought.

I clapped my hands together. Yesterday, Connor Stoll had told me that Katerina was afraid of heights. Black obsidian spiraled into the air. 1000 feet hight? 2000? Katerina was right on top of it. She started screaming. The only word I caught was 'killed.'

I realized that she was now in Zeus' territory. Quickly, the black stone lowered to the ground.

"You jerk!" she screamed. "You freakin' crappin' jerk! I could have gotten killed! You stupid idiot!"

I bet her threats were heard halfway around the world, because they woke everyone up. Clarisse came out of cabin 5 and yelled, "Will you shut up! We're trying to get some sleep here!"

Cabin 11, the Hermes cabin, crowded in front of their door. They looked excited as if they were watching a movie.

I wasn't paying attention to Katerina, so she took that chance to strike. Water propelled me into the door of the Zeus cabin. My head slammed against the marble.

"Ow," I muttered.

The door opened and a bleary-eyed Zach shuffled out.

"Was gong on? he asked. He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Take that!" Katerina called. Water whipped around and slammed into my cheek, hitting it to the others side. "And that!" Water punched me in the stomach.

_"She did not just slap me!" _I exclaimed. I raised my hand and summoned bone warriors from the ground. Three skeletons rose and started fighting her.

"Coward!" she said. "You have to hide behind undead zombies 'cause you're afraid to fight me yourself?"

"I am _not _a coward!"

Suddenly, lightning bolts zapped the skeletons, dissolving them. It was Zach.

"What are you doing?" I asked. "Don't interfere."

"You guys seriously need to stop fighting," he said gravely.

"That's right, Nico," Katerina commented.

A wave of water appeared again, but a lightning bolt stopped it.

"What?"

"Stop. I mean it."

"_Stop!_ You stop! Who told you this was your fight?" Katerina shouted. "Oh, so now you're going to be the perfect hero who saves the day and makes us stop fighting, right? I bet all kids of Zeus are that way, huh. All perfect. Don't care about other people. Don't care about their feelings. Only care about themselves and what they do. Perfect. Ugh. It makes me sick!"

"Watch it," Zach warned.

An arrow flew by our faces. Jake, the Apollo counselor, was holding his bow and a quiver of arrows.

"I don't miss," he said dangerously.

"Oh, c'mon," Connor whined, "Don't spoil the fun."

"Fun?" Jake's voice rose. "They'll kill themselves."

"Dude, lighten up."

The Hermes cabin and the Apollo cabin started arguing. That triggered the rest of the cabins to yell and scream at each other.

"Well." Katerina turned to me. "Look what you two started."

"Us?" I said. "What about you? Why don't you take the blame on yourself? You and your big fat mouth! Always shooting something off that hurts other people."

"Kat, he's right. It's true. From what he said, it doesn't seem that Selena should be your friend," Zach said.

"Me? Selena is _my_ friend. She trusts me and I trust her. You don't know anything about her besides the fact that you have a crush on her!" Her voice rose. Zach blushed.

"And I bet that Bianca would have been nicer," she added.

A rage of anger tore inside me. Bianca. I loved her. Memories flooded back. I saw her dying. My sister. I cried a yell of sadness attacked. Columns of black rock rose up. Soon, we had a good three-way battle going on. That made the other cabins around us start fighting too.

I didn't notice anything else, but I did see a form near us. Then I heard something loud.

_**"SHUT UP!"**_

It was Selena. Her hair was rumpled up and she was wearing a Tye-dye shirt and shorts.

**_"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!" _**she screeched. **_"YOU PEOPLE HAVE SERIOUS PROBLEMS!"_**

Grape vines suddenly shot out of the ground and wrapped around our legs.

"That's right."

Mr. D and Chiron materialized from the air.

Mr. D yawned loudly. "Waking a poor man up at 5 in the morning. Shame on you campers! Who started it!"

All hands pointed to the three of us. Zach pointed to Katerina. Katerina pointed to me.

_"What! I did not! That freakin' stupid jerk from -"_

"Mr. di Angelo," Chiron interrupted. "Please watch your language."

"Fine. It wasn't my fault. Katerina started it," I accused. "She taped a piece of paper to my head that said Loser. But I'm not a loser. She is."

"Wait. You're fighting over a piece of paper?" Selena asked.

"Uh…I guess?"

"Besides," Katerina smirked. "I didn't tape it. The Stoll brothers did."

"What?" Travis asked innocently.

"What did we do?" Connor added.

"Everyone, back to their bunks," Chiron announced.

"Big Three material," Clarisse muttered as she trudged toward her cabin.

I started back too.

"Wait. Nico, Zach, Connor, Travis, and Katerina, come with me. Oh, and wake up your brother, too, Katerina," Chiron called.

"Oh great," I mumbled.

"Freak," Katerina whispered to me.

"Idiot," I hissed back.

Then I saw something in the clouds. It was a bolt of light, speeding toward one specific person that was standing next to us. Everyone else noticed it. It was heading straight for Selena.


	7. Chapter 7

**Katerina's Side**

The light was heading straight for Selena. As it got closer, you could see that there was energy sparking around it. Thin threads of lightning crackled around it.

"Selena!" I heard myself screaming. I forgot all about Nico and everyone else. My friend was in trouble.

I tried to move, but I was rooted to the ground. Selena was stuck in the same position. Her eyes were wide with fright. Her face was pale.

"Selena!" I screamed again.

I saw Zach struggling to move. He was making progress, but about a centimeter a minute.

It got closer and closer to my best friend. Mr. D and Chiron were also stuck like everyone else. Time slowed down. I watched in slow motion as the light sped forward like an angry bull.

Selena put her hand up to block it, but it was too late. The light encased her, sealing her in a brilliant bubble. She screamed. I was helpless. I couldn't help her.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see fire rising from the campfire pit. It was heading in Selena's direction. First it was a fiery red. Then it became a bright orange; and then a warm yellow. The yellow changed to a blazing hot white. It wrapped itself around the light bubble torturing Selena and squeezed. The light became too powerful for me to see and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, Selena was on the ground. Around her lay a blackened ring of grass. She was clutching her arm painfully.

_"Oh my gods!_" I shrieked. _"Selena!"_

I sprinted over to her side. Zach followed me with Nico behind him.

"Her life aura faded for a second," he announced.

"We don't need to know that," I snapped.

Blood was running down her arm. I gently pried her fingers away and revealed a large gash. You could even see a little bit of the white bone underneath.

I turned to one of the Apollo campers. "Can you heal her?" I asked. I was panicked. My best friend was going to die. Well, she might not necessarily die, but she was hurt. Badly.

Will Solace, a healer, came over and examined her arm. Selena yelped as he came close to the cut.

"I-I can't," he said carefully. "It's all the way to the bone, like someone or something was trying to cut her hand off."

Selena paled.

Mr. D sighed. Chiron looked grim.

"Everyone back to their bunks. Mr. D, do you have another plan?"

"Sadly, I do," he grunted. He opened his mouth. The most horrible sound I had ever heard came out. "APOLLO!" he screamed. His voice was way louder from what you would expect from a pudgy, small man who stayed up late playing poker. The sound was so awful that it knocked everyone to the ground, even Selena.

When he was finished, Connor Stoll rubbed his ears. "That was the worst thing I had ever heard," he commented.

"Sorry," Mr. D said. "Do you have a plan?"

You could see a speck of light separating from the sun and coming nearer and nearer toward us. It became brighter and brighter. It finally became a golden car that landed right in front of the Apollo cabin. Campers scattered out of the way.

A guy that looked like he was about in his early twenties got out. He had blond hair and clear, sky-blue eyes with a dark tan. He was wearing wraparound shades with earphones. He had on a yellow Beatles t-shirt with jeans and flip-flops. This was Apollo, god of prophecy, music, the sun, and healing. You had to admit. He was _hot_. The Aphrodite girls sighed as he passed them.

"Hey kids," he greeted the Apollo cabin.

"Hi dad," they answered.

He made his way toward us. Campers cleared a path for him.

"Hey cuz," he said to me. "Hey little dude." He nodded in Nico's general direction.

"Hi, D," he called to Mr. D.

"Hello Apollo," Mr. D said, looking bored. "We have someone we need you to heal."

"Sure. No prob."

"Little bro!" Apollo ruffled Zach's hair and patted his back. "Who's the girl there?"

"She's Selena." There was and edge of defensiveness as if Zach were protecting her.

Apollo bent down and looked in her eyes. I saw Selena look at him as if he was a new kind of creature.

"Hi Selena," he said quietly to her.

"Uh...hi."

He took her arm and she yelped. Blood oozed out and dripped onto the ground.

"That's a nasty cut you've got," Apollo told her.

He gently traced the gash, murmured a few words, and placed his hand over the wound. Immediately, it was healed.

"Hmm...Looks like someone was trying to do something bad to her. Hey, what's this?" he said.

Apollo turned over Selena's hand. On her palm, outlined like a thin scar was a symbol of a flame. "Hestia."

I noticed that Selena's eyes widened. "Hestia," she murmured. "She...She said that she'd protect me."

"From what?" I asked.

"Might have something to do with Poseidon's missing trident," Apollo muttered.

_"What!"_

Dad's trident was missing? Even though Poseidon had only visited me a few times, I still felt close to him. Now Dad's trident was missing?

"Whoops. I guess that accidentally slipped out." Apollo winked at Mr. D who was glaring at him. "I wasn't supposed to tell."

Suddenly, the door of my cabin burst open. Percy was wide awake.

"What about Dad?" he asked.

"Uh..." Apollo smiled at us. "Better let Dionysus explain things to you."

He disappeared in a shower of golden light.

"What about a missing trident?" I demanded.

"Dad's trident is missing?" Percy asked, confused.

"Duh!" I snapped. "I just said that."

Mr. D yawned. "I'm going back to bed." He snapped his fingers and left us with a smell of grapes.

_"How can he act like he doesn't care!" _I screamed at where he had been. _"Dad's trident is missing and he doesn't care! I am going to strangle that guy and -"_

Suddenly, I choked on my words and started coughing hard.

Mr. D materialized again. "I would also like some respect, please," he said, glaring at me.

I glowered back.

"Thank you." He vanished.

That made me even _more _angry. Poseidon's trident, one of the most powerful weapons in the world had gone missing. Anything could have happened to it. Dad was losing one of his sources of power while he was still rebuilding his palace. And Dionysus (that little brat) didn't care at all. He wouldn't have cared if the world was going to end. It seemed like he didn't care about _anything._

"Arrgh!" I cried. I wished I could just let my anger go away. I wish that it could just disappear like Mr. D did. It made me frustrated and I _hated _being frustrated.

The ground suddenly rumbled and things began to slide towards me. We were all knocked to the ground and landed on our butts. _Again._

It finally stopped and we picked ourselves up.

"Way to go, Katerina," Nico grumbled. "That's right. Get mad and create an earthquake."

"Wait." I was puzzled. "That was me?"

"Uh-huh." Percy nodded. "You made a mini-earthquake."

"Whoa. Cool."

"Yeah, right," Nico scoffed. "Like that's awesome. Check out this."

He concentrated and clapped his hands together. A dark slab of rock burst out of the ground.

"Is everything you make black? Hmm, _Goth Boy_?" I commented.

"Shut up."

Gems started to pop out on the stone. Diamonds, emeralds, topaz, and a bunch of other minerals spelled out three words:

**Katerina = a big fat jerk**

Nico stepped back with a sneer on his face and admired his work.

"You are _so _asking for it, Goth Boy," I muttered.

"Dude, would you look at that?" Travis said.

"Makes me wanna steal something, man," added Connor.

"Don't even think about it." Nico clapped his hands again and it went back down into a fissure in the ground.

I narrowed my eyes.

"No!" Selena yelped. "Not again!"

"Children!" Chiron's voice boomed out. "That is enough. All cabin counselors, meet me at the Big House. That includes you too, Katerina."

I trudged back to my cabin. Percy patted my back with a worried expression.

"It's all right. We'll figure it out," he said. He sounded like he was trying to comfort himself more than me.

I flopped down on my bunk and stared at pillow.

_Why is Dad's trident missing? And what happened to it? The second Titan war is already over, so what's going on?_

I was confused. The only thing I knew was that this was a beginning of a new quest. That was why Rachel had us collect our memebers for our quest. Zach's quest.

* * *

**Okay. Sorry for the long update. I ran out of ideas but I got a lot now. :D And I'll keep on writing even if...if...*sniff sniff* no one...*sniff* reviews...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay. First of all, I did NOT want some parts in here (including the ending) BUT my stinking sister (younger) forced me to. So sadly, I have to. I do not own any of the PJO characters in here except for Selena, Katerina, Zach, and a few others. :)**

**Selena: Hi people! I think you already know who I am.**

**Katerina: Okay. HI. I LOVE CampHB for making me who I am: a person sent to torture Nico.**

**Nico: Shut up, Miller.**

**Katerina: You shut up, Goth Boy.**

**Nico: For the last time, I AM NOT GOTH!**

**Katerina: Very funny...GOTH BOY! In your face!**

**Nico: Just...SHUT UP!**

**Katerina: Make me.**

**Zach: Guys, stop fighting.**

**Katerina: Stay out of this.**

**Selena: Guys...**

**Nico: You know what?**

**Katerina: What?**

**Nico: I HATE you, Miller. I hate you and your GUTS!**

**Katerina: At least I have guts. Unlike a coward like you.**

**Nico: Coward, huh? I'm not the one who's hiding behind the water and being Daddy's Little Girl.**

**Me: Um...guys? Can we get back to the story?**

**Katerina & Nico: SHUT UP AND STAY OUT OF THIS!**

**(silence)**

**Katerina: Why the heck did you have to say it at the same time as me?**

**Nico: I did not! I said it first!**

**Katerina: Liar!**

**Me: I really don't want to do this...**

**Nico: Stupid kids of Poseidon.**

**Katerina: Poseidon is NOT stupid, unlike your daddy who hides in the Underworld make you do your dirty work for him.**

**Nico: I did not!**

**Me: So I might have to do this...**

**Katerina: Oh yeah? What about last year? You tricked my big brother into going into the Underworld so you could -**

**Nico: My dad made me!**

**Katerina: Oh, so-**

**Me: WILL THE TWO OF YOU SHUT YOUR CRAPPIN' MOUTHS UP SO I CAN GET ON WITH THE STORY? Sorry about those two. They've got mental problems. Anyway, Chapter 8...**

**~CampHB**

**

* * *

**

**Zach's Side**

I entered the cool ping-pong room and closed the door behind me. All the head counselors were sitting quietly around the table, waiting for me to take my place across from Percy.

"Hey, are you all right?" I whispered to Selena. She was drumming her fingers nerviously and had a zoned-out look in her face.

"What? Oh. Uh...yeah."

Chiron stood up slowly. "Hello counselors."

We were silent.

"This morning, we had experienced an ah...difficulty. As you can see, Dionysus rushed off to an emergency council meeting. We don't know who or what caused this certain...incident. As you also may have heard, Poseidon's trident, the second most powerful weapon in the world, is missing." The words sank in and we started murmuring to each other. Tension filled up the air. "Poseidon is all right except..." Chiron trailed off. It was awkward for him to lose his words so suddenly.

"Except?" Percy prompted. His jaw was clenched.

"Except...he was turned into a...fish. A guppy to be exact."

_"A guppy!" _Katerina sprang up from her chair. "Who the heck would do that? I personally will tear that..._thing _in half. I swear!"

Everyone was stunned. Even Clarisse, who hated Percy's guts and the Poseidon cabin was surprised.

"We already have a quest organized. I think you already know who the members are. Rachel?"

Rachel Elizabeth Dare had a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Yes," she said softly. "That was why they had to collect the members first. Here. I think I've got the prophecy."

A sudden green mist circled around her. Her eyes turned neon green. Chartruse smoke poured out of her mouth.

_"The three-pronged spear -"_

That was all she got to. Suddenly, her eyes glowed white-hot. She let loose a scream. It was a horrible cry; a cross between a wounded animal and a mourning widow.

"No," she gasped. "I...can't."

"Rachel!" I yelled.

She slumped to the floor, her fiery red hair falling around her. The lights and fog were gone.

"Oh my gods!" Rachel sat up instantly. "I..."

Chiron had an alarmed expression. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know," she stuttered. "Something...something was blocking me from the Oracle. I-I can't say the prophecy. I'm sorry."

His face was grave. "I didn't think it was that serious," he muttered. "Not that serious."

Selena gripped my arm. Her face was white with fear. "Zach..."

"It's all right. It's all right," I soothed.

"No. No, it isn't. She..."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Never mind. Nothing." She turned away.

I took her hand and stroked it gently. Her skin was soft and smooth. I wanted to feel it forever. Her breathing went back to normal.

"I've decided," Chiron announced. "Selena, Katerina, Zachary, and Nico. You four will depart in three days. The rest of you will return to your normal activities. You are all dismissed."

Suddenly, Selena turned to me. Her eyes were shining. "I know where to go first!"

"What?" I gave her a quizzical look. "Rachel never got to tell us where. Remember?"

"But I know! Iris' home!"

"Iris' home?" I said blankly.

"I know where it is!" a voice suddenly cried out. It was the head counselor of the Iris cabin, Violetta. "My mom's home right? My mom's Iris, goddess of the rainbow."

"So?" Nico scowled. "How is that supposed to be a lead. Selena might not even be right. She's just a mortal."

Katerina punched him.

"Ow!"

"My friend is not 'just a mortal,' freak."

"I don't care."

She glared at him.

"Anyway," Violetta said, "come over to my cabin. I'll show you."

"Can we?" I asked Chiron. Campers weren't supposed to go to another cabin unless it was their own or Chiron gave them special permission. Well, besides the Stoll brothers.

He nodded. "We will have to try to use every clue we have."

"Great."

"C'mon," Violetta urged. "Let's go.

* * *

The Iris cabin was neat and colorful. The walls shimmered with different shades of the rainbow. There were six bunks and they were all arranged in rainbow color order starting with red. Everything was all color coded.

"Nice cabin," Katerina commented. "I wish mine was like this, but Percy and I keep on forgetting where to put our things."

Nico snickered.

"But I bet the Hades cabin is much messier," she added.

"I -"

"Don't even think about it," I interrupted.

Violetta, Selena, and I shared a secret smile. Violetta went into a closet and rummaged through a box until she pulled out what she wanted. It was a map of the Niagara Falls.

"Yup. This is it." She blew the dust off.

"A map?" Nico scoffed.

"This is no ordinary map," she said. "This will show you the exact location of my mother's home since you'll probably have to go through a complicated maze to get to her."

"A maze? Is it the Labyrinth?" asked Katerina.

"No, you idiot. The Labyrinth was destroyed last year." Nico rolled his eyes.

Katerina opened her mouth to shoot back some nasty comment but Selena shot her a 'don't-do-it-or-else' look and she closed it.

"Anyway, here." She handed the map to me. I folded it and stuffed it into my jean pocket.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She winked at me. I blushed. I usually got that kind of look from girl campers.

We left the Iris cabin and stood by the fountain in the middle of the whole rectangle shape.

"What time is it?" Selena asked. "I'm hungry."

A conch horn blew in the distance. I grinned.

"Lunch time. I'll race you there."

She smiled back at me. "Are you ready?"

"Go!" Nico yelled. He sprinted off toward the pavilion.

"Hey! No fair! Cheater!" Katerina ran after him.

We laughed and joined them, running as fast as we could. In the hot sun with Selena beside me and my friends in front of me, I truly, truly felt like I was at home.

* * *

The days passed quickly. Selena turned out to be not so good at sword fighting. Selena. A couldn't stop thinking about her. She filled up my thoughts each day. Chiron had to call my name a few times in Ancient Greek class before I realized he was talking to me.

I looked at my backpack by the door. It was late and way past curfew. Tomorrow morning would be Saturday. The morning we would leave for our quest. My quest. I shifted my gaze to the alarm clock. It was 12:27 and I was still wide awake. Butterflies flutttered in my stomach.

_Am I good enough to lead this quest? _I asked myself.

I closed my eyes and tried to think about anything but tomorrow but it didn't work. Never mind. At this rate, I would never get any sleep. I hopped out of my bunk and carefully tiptoed out of my cabin toward the direction of the beach.

* * *

It turned out that I wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. Selena was sitting on a sand dune outlooking the dark waves crashing against the shore.

"Hi." I sat down next to her.

She jumped up. When she saw it me, she sat back down. "Oh, hi."

We were quiet for a few minutes.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.

"Yep. You too?"

"Yeah..."

I moved closer to her and noticed a tear running down her cheek.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh. Um, yeah. I think."

"Are you sure?"

She turned to me and I saw that her eyes were sparkling with tears. "I-I don't understand. Why couldn't everything be normal? I miss my mom. I miss my house. I miss my brother. He's only two, you know. He barely knows anything and when he finds his sister gone, it's all my fault. I should have never asked Kat about all of this." Two fat drops made salty rivers on her face.

I put my hands on her shoulders and made her look at me. "Selena, it'll be all right. Your mom, your family. Everything. It'll turn out fine. I promise."

"You promise?" she whispered.

"I promise." I looked at her, studying her quietly. Her auburn hair shone in the moonlight. I saw myself in those brown eyes. "Selena..."

My hand moved by itself. It touched her face, caressing her cheek gently. I smoothed her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"Zach?"

My right hand traced the outline of her lips while my left intertwined itself with her hand. I grasped her hands and leaned in. Our lips touched and I closed my eyes. I felt like I had energy to run a thousand miles. Her mouth was soft and she smelled like cinnamon. I hugged her closer and kissed the two tears on her cheeks. I then kissed her forehead and her mouth again. When we broke away, I felt like I had just lost the most precious thing on earth.

"Wow," I breathed.

"That was exactly what I was thinking." She smiled at me.

I felt a little dizzy and felt by accident into her lap.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"It's okay." She let me stay that way. Selena wrapped my hair on her finger. I tugged one of her loose strands playfully. I felt peaceful. Her warm body surrounded me and I felt sleep start to claim me.

* * *

**Okay. Chapter 8 over! Ugh! I kind of hated the romance stuff but my sister forced me to put it in. Don't ask why! :P Anyway, guys, PLEASE REVIEW! **

**~CampHB**


	9. Chapter 9

**Selena's Side**

_...I was standing in front of my house. Just standing at the front door doing nothing. The ground fell away from my feet. Chunks of pavement fell into the dark abyss below. I saw my house get ripped off by an invisible wind, shingle by shingle. But I wasn't afraid. Somehow, I was still suspended over the spinning whirlpool of darkness. _

_Then I saw Zach in front of me. He was on his knees, clutching at his head like he had some kind of concussion. _

"_Zach!" I tried to scream his name._

_But it was one of those dreams where you know something bad is going to happen but you couldn't do anything about it. _

_When he took his hand away, there was a mark burned on his cheek. It was the silhouette of a cat. His eyes were now bright green like it had been a few days ago on the beach. His form flickered for a second and he became a tall, athletic green-gray eyed boy. Then he changed back._

_He turned to me, and his mouth curved into a sneer. My palm began pulsing wildly. The mark of the flame Hestia had burned into my hand was glowing white. _

"_Zach!" I tried to yell again._

_He was advancing slowly like he did when he was beginning a fight._

"_Zach!"_

_Hestia's voice filled my head. "This is your chance. You can defeat her."_

"_I don't' care! I don't care!" I shouted wildly._

_I only saw Zach in front of me. His silky blond hair was now windswept. His face was taut and his lips were pressed. My heart normally would have stopped and pounded, but his eyes were full of…some kind of anger or vengeance. _

_He moved at a sudden speed and twisted my arm behind my back, forcing a knife point to my throat. Our faces were inches apart._

"_Zach," I whispered._

_The dagger drove a little deeper into my neck._

'_Do something!' I yelled at Hestia in my thoughts. _

_My hand moved up on its own and I touched his other cheek –the one that didn't have the cat on it._

_He let go of me and screamed. It was a horrible cry. I stumbled back and fell into the spinning vortex below._

"_Zach!"_

"_Hey, I'm here. It's all right. It's all right." A gentle voice filled my ears. Someone was stroking my hair, pushing it away from my face._

"_It's all right."_

_It's all right…_

My eyes flipped open to a shadow looming over me. I opened my mouth to scream, but instead, someone kissed me. It was Zach.

"Hey, are you all right?" His blue eyes were filled with concern. _Blue _eyes. Not green. Blue.

"Oh. Yeah," I breathed. "I'm fine." I was caught captive in the sky-blue of his irises.

He helped me up. "We should be getting back to our cabins," he said.

I sighed as I walked into my sunny room. The floorboards were warm. I snatched by backpack from the floor and dumped the contents on my bed. There was a spare change of clothes and, my cell phone, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and brush. I shook the bag again. Something small fell out. It was a picture of me, my mom, my dad, and Timmy, my little brother before Dad and Mom were divorced. It was in a 3 by 3 inch frame with 'family forever' written at the bottom in Dad's neat script.

My eyes teared up when I thought of my dad. A few days after he left, he was hit by a drunk driver and died. At the funeral, mom had no expression, but I was crying my eyes out.

"Hey, knock knock." Katerina appeared at my door with something in her hands.

I literally jumped three feet. "Sheesh!"

"I got some clothes for you. I was going to give them to you earlier in the morning, but you weren't in your room. I wonder why…"

I blushed furiously.

She laughed. "I won't tell. I promise. Just tell me the truth."

"I…I…"

"It's Zach isn't it? I've seen the way he looks at you."

I nodded, guilty.

"He's a great guy. Funny. But, I don't like him like that much. Just as a friend."

"Right." I grinned. "Then how about Nico?"

It was _her_ turn to turn red.

"NICO?"

I shrugged and she punched me lightly.

"Anyway, since we're about the same size, you can pick through the clothes if you like. You want me in here?"

I hesitated. "Yeah. Sure."

She sat down on the bed and held up a turquoise top. "Like it? It goes with your hair."

I flipped through the stack. "You must be obsessed with blue," I said.

"Nah. It goes with my eyes and it's my favorite color. I do have some other ones if you want."

"I'm fine."

In the end, I now had four tops –one gray, one turquoise, and two blue- and a few pairs of shorts.

"Thanks," I called as Katerina swung out the door.

"Welcome."

I stuffed the clothes into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. Then I closed the wooden door without looking back.

Annabeth caught up with me right after I had finished eating breakfast at the pavilion and was making my way to the car.

"Hey, I've got something for you."

"You do?" Most of the campers just ignored me and didn't even bother talking. It was like I was invisible.

"Yeah. Percy said that you should have it anyway."

I followed her into the Athena cabin. The huge stone owl in the front followed me with its creepy onyx eyes.

"Here."

Annabeth was sitting on her bunk with a wooden box on her lap. It was about as big as a shoe box and didn't have any fancy decorations. She flipped open the lid and it revealed a bronze dagger sitting on a bed of crushed red velvet.

"Isn't that your knife?" I asked stupidly.

"Actually, my knife is a replica of it. This is the real thing."

"Right." I had no idea what she was talking about.

"This…this was given to me by a very…special friend a long time ago." Her voice wavered.

"Where is he?" I immediately knew that was not a good thing to say.

"He's...dead." Annabeth's face remained stony.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

There was an awkward silence between us.

"Anyway, just take care of it. Don't use it unless you really have to, okay?"

"Um…yeah…"

A few minutes later, I was walking toward the silver SUV parked on the grass. Annabeth's dagger had changed into a clay bead with the Empire State Building on it and names in white lettering spiraling to the top.

Katerina, Zach, and Nico were gathered around Chiron and another husky guy with eyes literally covering –and I mean _literally_ covering– his whole body. They were all different colors: blue, gray, green, brown, even _purple_!

Zach was looking at me, his head tilted. I blushed for about the thirtieth time and glanced at the ground. Katerina nudged me and cracked a smile.

Nico was still his sullen self. His eyes had circles under them and he smelled like he hadn't taken a bath for at least two days. His skull t-shirt was rumpled and his hair was messed up.

We began to load things into the trunk of the SUV. The four of us all had a light backpack, our weapons, 500 dollars in cash, 100 golden drachmas (Greek coins) in an impossibly light pouch, 5 passports, a hotel room sheet, and Violetta's map. When we got on the car, the gazillion-eyed guy, Argus, got in the driver's seat. I was sandwiched between Zach and Nico who refused to sit next to Katerina.

Zach held my hand for the first few minutes of the ride and slipped an object into my hand. It turned out to be a little message that said:

**Z + S = FOREVER**

I smiled and leaned on him. Nico raised an eyebrow and mouthed 'You like him?' I nodded and he grinned. 'Interesting choice.'

I saw that Katerina was also looking over at me and Zach. She gave me a thumbs-up made a cuckoo sign at Nico.

Nico gave her a death glare.

She stuck out her tongue and made a face.

He rolled his eyes and mouthed 'Can you believe her?' Then he stuck his earphones in his ears and settled down to his music. Katerina sign-languaged 'Jerk' and plugged in her earphones. From the backseat, Argus gave me a wink from the back of his neck.

I'd like to say that the trip to wherever we were going was awesome, but that was hard to believe. Argus had to pull over five times to separate Kat and Nico even though they were so far apart. In the end, Kat sat in the shotgun. We had two bathroom breaks and almost got hit by a RV once. There was another handicapped driver that swerved around us, trying to get Argus to hit its car. If the driver was that talented to almost make us crash, I wouldn't exactly call that 'handicapped.' More like 'Alert! Dangerous driver!'

Anyway, we got through the ride without too much trouble, I think. When we crossed the bridge to get from the U.S. to Canada, it was starting to get dark. On the bridge, the water started to ripple and the bridge shook a little bit.

"Katerina!" both boys yelled at once. Kat had a smug look on her face.

"Serves you people right. Well, not you Selena. Or you either, Zach. You too Argus. Nico…different story."

I settled back into my seat while Argus passed the passports to the man in the booth. He flickered between the million-eyed guy and a blond surfer dude. The guy in the window glanced at us and let us go. Argus checked us in at the hotel and gave Zach the key.

"Good luck," he said.

"Wait, you're just going to abandon us here?" I asked.

"I'm not allowed to interfere on the quest. Good luck and goodbye." He got into the elevator and the doors closed and dinged.

_Nice meeting you, _I thought.

Zach let out a puff of air before looking at us. "I guess this is it. We're on our own."

"Yeah…"

"I hope we don't get killed," Nico piped.

"Shut up, idiot. There are people in this floor, you know."

"You could get killed?"

Nico nodded seriously at me. "It's true."

"Shut up, Nico!"

"You still want to join?"

Zach was looking at me helplessly.

"You…you never said that I could get killed," I stammered. My heart started to pound.

"Yeah. You could. In nasty ways you never thought of. That's why we wanted you to train, duh."

Kat whacked him good and hard on his head. I took in a shaky breath. Zach put an arm around me protectively and murmured in my ear, "It'll be all right. I'll protect you even if I have to die. I promise."

Kat was now hitting an angry-looking Nico and he was protesting loudly. Suddenly, a door across from us opened. A tired woman stood out in the hall.

"Shh! We're trying to sleep!" Then she slammed the door.

I suppressed a smile and Zach opened the door the hotel room.

**Sorry about the long wait, guys. Computer problems and homework! Long story! :D**

**~CampHB**


	10. Chapter 10

**Nico's Side**

The hotel room was normal-looking but there were only two rooms. Three, actually if you counted the bathroom. If you entered from the door, there would be a bed on your left and a TV on your right. Keep going straight and you would see the bathroom on your left and a sink with a coffee maker, refrigerator, and a microwave on the right. In front of you, there was another bed on your left and another TV on your right. There was also a desk and three sofas with a coffee table and a huge sliding glass door that let you look at the Niagara Falls.

"So…where are we going to sleep?"

"I call the first bed!" Katerina yelled. She dropped her bag onto the one nearest the door.

"I get the other one!" Selena called. "Boys on the couches!"

"Hey!" Zach and I protested at the same time. "That's not fair!"

Katerina shrugged. "Who cares. We got dibs on it first."

Girls. Honestly.

"You're just lucky that Kat's not sleeping in this bed," Selena said, pointing to the one by the sofas. "She would kill you the minute you got down. Literally."

Katerina snickered pointedly.

"Uh…who's showering first?" I asked, hoping to be the one to get in the bathroom. I hadn't taken a shower for at least a week. Hopefully, I didn't smell like a garbage dump…yet.

Selena and Zach shrugged. Katerina just smiled.

"Go on," she said, gently pushing me in. When she closed the door, I saw a faint smirk lift the corners of her mouth.

I wish that showering had been a good experience, but forget it. I had turned on the water to heat it up and the first thing it did was spray freezing cold liquid at me, soaking my shirt and jeans. I stood there, dripping wet in shock and I swear I could hear Katerina laughing on the other side of the wall.

I stripped off my t-shirt, pants, and sneakers. The ground was wet, and I slipped. Well, it actually felt like the water was pulling at me and made me fall. This time, I definitely could hear Katerina and Selena laughing for sure.

I unlocked the door and raced out into her bedroom. She wasn't there. I went over to the sofas. Katerina and Selena were sitting on Selena's bed, laughing and talking with Zach. They didn't seem to notice me until I yelled at them. Well, Katerina specifically.

She took one glance at me and burst out with another fit of laughter. Selena and Zach joined in and pointed at my legs. I shook my head, not understanding.

"Your…pants…?" Zach said, gasping for air.

I took his hint and looked at my pants. I wasn't wearing any. Instead, I was wearing my boxers, the special homemade ones my dad had sewn himself for my thirteenth birthday. They had hearts and death skulls all over them on a pink-and-black diagonal-striped background. On the back, they read:

**DAD ****LOVES NICO**

"Oh! My! Gods!" I screamed. It was total humiliation.

Anyway, I ran back to the bathroom and pulled on my jeans, leaving my chest bare because of my soggy shirt. Then I ran back and started to attack Katerina, hitting her about five times before Zach had to pull the two of us apart. Before he did, though, I had raised my hand without thinking and slapped her hard across the face. She stood there, her jaw open in shock.

We were all quiet for a few seconds before Katerina started screeching at me, yelling her head off. I had to admit it was pretty funny. Her dark hair was mussed up and her ocean colored eyes burned into mine. She looked…kind of…pretty when she was mad. Wait, did I just think that?

After a few minutes, Katerina sat there with her arms crossed fuming.

"Are you done yet?" I asked, sounding a little bored.

"Done? _Done? _No. _No,_ Goth Boy. _I'm not done_."

I yawned. "Tell me when you are. And, by the way, get off my bed please." I pushed her off one of the sofas and lay down on it. "Good night."

She stumbled and glared at me. "You watch out, Daddy's Boy. You watch out," she said coldly and went to her bed.

Selena sighed and went to her own bed. The sheets rustled as she got in. Zach flopped onto the sofa facing across from Selena's bed, watching her carefully.

"'Night guys," she called. "'Night Kat."

"Tell Nico to watch out," came the answer.

"Good night."

"Well, tell him."

"Good night."

"And also tell him –"

"_Good night, Katerina."_

I snickered.

"If that's Nico then –"

"_I said, good night, Katerina Miller. Don't make me come over there," _Selena yelled, enunciating the words loud and clear. "You too, Nico. Geez."

_...Katerina and I were sitting next to each other on the beach at Camp Half-Blood. We were so close, we were actually touching. Unlike reality, we weren't fighting._

_Katerina was talking to me about something. When she finished, I only focused on the sun's rays hitting her hair, making it shine brightly. I moved closer and closer to her. _

_At first, she gave me a confused look and then leaned closer in, too. Our foreheads were now touching and her eyes locked with mine. Our faces were so close, that our lips finally touched. Our lips finally touched. _Our lips finally touched!_..._

I woke up, stifling a scream. Me kissing Katerina? Disgusting! Cold water suddenly splashed me in the back. Katerina was behind me with a wet bucket in her hands. I sat there soaking wet for a second.

"Was that _necessary?" _I yelled.

She shrugged. "I guess."

She took the bucket and walked to the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower now," she called as she closed the door.

I lay back down on the sofa again for about half an hour, trying to go back to sleep, but it was too noisy. Selena was already up and watching TV. Zach was sound asleep. I decided to get out of my sopping clothes and change into fresh ones. Then I remembered they were still in the bathroom from last night.

The door wasn't locked so I figured Katerina was probably already done and in her bed, planning for another conspiracy. I gently pushed open the door….and got a BIG surprise.

Katerina was still in the bathroom. She had a towel wrapped around her and her damp had beads of water that glimmered in her dark hair when they caught on the light. She took one look at me and screamed.

"GET OUT, NICO!" she shrieked. "GET OUT!"

I was still stunned and didn't get a word she said. I had never seen her like this before.

"GET OUT!"

The water on the floor became a liquid whip and hit my arm. I was still standing there, mouth open in disbelief.

She crashed another wave on me. It still didn't work. I guess she tried the diplomatic approach after a few more times of dousing me with water.

"Hey, you know about road kill?" she asked with a controlled voice.

"Uh…yeah. Duh."

"WELL, YOU'RE ABOUT TO BE ONE, BONE BOY, IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF HERE NOW! YOU'RE AS GOOD AS DEAD MEAT!"

That snapped me back to the present. I raced out of there and slammed the door as hard as I could. I slumped down and breathed hard.

Katerina had woken Zach up and he was rubbing his eyes sleepily at me.

"Nico," he said, "you all right?"

"I wish," I panted. "I wish."

He looked at me, eyes filled with concern. "Don't tell me…"

"Uh, yeah. Duh. _Her."_

He laughed. "You should suck up and ask her out."

"ASK HER OUT? Are you crazy? She'd kill me."

"You'll see. You'll be saying something different in a couple of years."

I snorted.

Katerina emerged from the shower a few minutes later. Her hair was blown dry and she glared at me, but didn't mention anything about the incident.

"Ready?" Selena asked.

We all had our backpacks and were at the lobby, checking to make sure we had everything.

"Yeah."

We took a bus to the Niagara Falls where we were dropped off at the park. There was a visitors' building and we walked inside.

There was an old man sitting at the attendant booth with white hair, a deep tan, and sparkling ocean eyes filled with a kind of sadness. When Selena saw him, she gasped. He put his finger to his lips and shook his head.

"Uh, do you know when the boat ride starts?" Katerina asked.

He smiled. "Of course. The next one starts at 9:15."

"Thanks."

We turned to leave. I was halfway out the door when I heard shouting behind me. There was a gang of seven older boys that pushed the man to the floor. They had taken his wallet and were snatching the money out of it. A few of them were kicking and hitting him.

"Stop!" Katerina suddenly cried.

The leader of the group was a tall boy with light brown hair and had a stud in one ear. He walked menacingly toward us.

"The chick's telling us to stop," he sneered. "But we're not going to."

"I'm serious. Stop."

"No way."

The man was now sitting on the floor and staring at the leader. He back away from the gaze carefully. So did the other boys.

"Richie, let's get outta here. The old man's creeping me out," a boy said.

Richie agreed and left. His last words were, "Later."

Katerina rushed over and helped the old man up. He smiled at her.

"You remind me of my daughter," he said. "Strong and tough on the outside, but kind and compassionate on the inside. That way it's harder for boys to get you." He winked. I could swear he directed it at me.

Katerina picked up his things for him and headed to our direction.

"Wait," he said. He handed her a sand dollar. "I gave one of these to my son on his fifteenth birthday. How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

"Ah. Close enough. I have a collection. You may keep one."

Katerina took the white sand dollar and rolled it in her hand. "Thanks."

She started walking to us. In the middle, she suddenly gasped and stopped. "Dad. He gave Percy one of these on his fifteenth birthday."

She turned around and looked back at the booth. The man had disappeared.

"Your dad helped you," Selena said quietly. "He wasn't supposed to. Especially since his trident is missing, but he loved you."

"But…I thought he was a guppy."

"He can be in different places at once. Half of him is a guppy and the other half is here, by the ocean," I explained.

"Hey, what about me," Zach complained, teasing.

Selena poked him. "You're not his son, dummy."

We laughed and headed down to the boats.


	11. Chapter 11

**Oh my god. Sorry for the late updates. I have school, and it snowed a few weeks ago, and the power went out a couple of times, I lost my USB... Never mind. No more excuses. Here's chapter...11 of ****The Missing Trident****.**

**~CampHB**

* * *

**Katerina's Side**

The name of the boat was _Maid of the Mist VI. _It didn't look too old. My friends each took a plastic blue poncho to keep them covered from the mist. I grabbed one too, even though I knew I wouldn't need it, being the daughter of Poseidon, god of the seas and all. I made my way to the stern of the boat. Poseidon. This was the second time I'd seen him. Ever since I was three...

_*Flashback*_

_Lights. Alarms. People. Mom. _

_I gripped Bubba closer to me. The plush dolphin sank into my chest. A few hours ago, Mom had been on my bed, explaining to me how my dad had won the toy for her at a boardwalk years ago._

_Mom was gone. I didn't know where she was. One moment she was carrying me outside, the other she'd disappeared._

_"Dead."_

_The word rang out and I immediately knew that she was dead. Dead: lost, wiped out of the face of the earth, gone forever._

_Confusion swirled around me. I started to run away from the event. Away from the place that had been my home. Away from the glaring lights and blaring sirens. Away from the charred wood that had held up my house._

_I ran past my day care center. Past the library. Past the woods. I was following the signs that Mom had used to bring me to the beach. I wanted to go to the beach._

_Suddenly, strong arms grabbed me from behind. They held me close with tan muscles. Tears trailed from deep azure eyes._

"_I'm sorry," said a ragged voice. "I couldn't interfere."_

"_Who are you?" I half-sobbed, half-choked out._

_He didn't have to answer. He lifted his head. I already knew who he was. He was my father._

_*End of Flashback*_

I realized a tear was making its way down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away. Nobody could see it. I was Katerina the Strong. Katerina the Brave. I didn't cry, did I?

The boat had already passed the first waterfall: the Horseshoe Falls. Mist sprayed all over my body, covering me in cold droplets of water. I shivered. Even though I had immunity to water, it was freezing.

Nico must have noticed it because he came and stood next to me.

"Cold?" he asked.

I nodded mutely.

A faint smirk played at his lips, threatening to tease me. But instead, he wrapped one arm around my shoulder. Only the poncho separated us. His body heat warmed me up a little bit.

I was surprised that he was actually being nice to me. Normally, we would have wanted to scratch each other's eyes out. I stared at the water in silence.

The intercom crackled. "Okay, folks. This next waterfall is the American Falls. It's on your left. The ones on your right are part of Canada's property."

The American Falls were spectacular. The water cascaded down the cliff. A multicolored rainbow arced in front of it. Mist sprayed us full in the face, but it didn't stop us from marveling at the natural scene.

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it?" Selena said.

"Duh!" I let the boat rock around a little harder.

"Oh no," Zach groaned. "Katerina, please tell me you're not thinking about that…"

I grinned. "Ready to have some fun?"

Nico took his arm away and backed up. "Katerina, no. No!"

I smirked. Selena raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

The once-gentle waves started to push angrily against the boat.

"Oh, gods." Nico was starting to turn green. "Oh, gods. I _hate _boats. I _hate_ them."

"Well, now you're gonna like them."

_Maid of the Mist VI _rocked from side to side. Nico's face turned greener. Then he turned pale.

"Katerina, monster." He pointed behind me.

"Nah, you can't scare me," I said. He probably just wanted to direct my attention somewhere else so I would stop torturing him.

"No, I'm serious."

"Pft! Be quiet!"

"Katerina, there's a monster behind you." Selena froze in place with fear.

Zach drew his sword. Nico's Stygian iron blade flashed.

I laughed nervously. "You're joking right?"

No, I'm not." A gruff voice sounded behind me. Meaty hands wrapped themselves around my throat.

Great. A Laistrygonian giant was behind me. He was unusually hairy.

"Who are you," I managed to choke out.

"I am Ononomaus, brother of Onomus," he bellowed. "I have sworn to kill you because you killed my brother."

"What-a-what, brother of what-a-what?" I asked. Their names were weird.

"Ononomaus! I am the twin brother of Onomus!"

"Who's your brother?"

"He's big and hairy," Ononomaus growled with frustration.

Clearly, this guy wasn't so bright.

Zach paled a little bit. I remembered that it was he that killed Ono-whatever-his-name-was.

"And he has a tattoo."

"Could it be a hula dancing girl by any chance?" Nico questioned.

"Yes!"

"And it said 'I love Babycakes'?"

"Yes! Yes!"

Nico glanced at us. "Then we kinda killed him."

"Argh!"

Ononomaus started squeezing my neck. I felt air rush out of my lungs.

"What are you doing? Let go of her," Zach commanded.

"I will snap her neck like a twig." Ononomaus grinned. "Then I will kill the rest of you. It's a good thing my mistress made me bring reinforcements."

Reinforcements? This was not good.

Dog-seals lumbered toward us from the back of the boat. They looked exactly like shiny, gray seals, but their dog face was horribly shaped.

"Daughter of Poseidon," they hissed. "We used to work for your father, but he sent us to the pits of Tartarus and used those hopeless Cyclops instead."

I gulped. These guys weren't too happy.

Suddenly, the boat jerked to a stop.

"Do not panic," the captain sounded. "I repeat, do not panic. You, men with the guns. Put your weapons down. I repeat, put your weapons down."

Weapons? For all I knew, the monster was ready to strangle me.

"Bah," Ononomaus said. "We'll deal with the mortals later. Kill these demigods first."

I couldn't breathe. The Laistrygonian giant was cutting off my windpipe.

_Help, _I silently mouthed to Nico.

Zach and Nico raised their swords and charged.

* * *

Nico made a beeline for me. He swung at the giant, but was blocked by the armor. Ononomaus wasn't very smart because he let go of me and took out a metal club, letting me escape.

"You want to save your girlfriend?" he taunted Nico. "Onomus had a girlfriend named Babycakes. She was really pretty…" He sighed. "…But then you killed him. Now, I will kill you."

Zach started hacking away at the teklehines, the sea dogs. I brandished my hunting knives and joined him. While we were fighting, more monsters poured in. _Dracanae _joined the party as well as a few more giants.

A giant towered over Selena, pinning her underneath his feet. He raised his spear. She cowered and cringed. I felt a wave of protection wash over me. I had to save my friend.

"Hey, ugly!" I yelled. "Over here!"

The giant turned to me. "Half-blood!"

The spear impaled itself right next to me. I ran behind him. Another huge spear was thrown at me. This one I dodged. An arrow appeared near my left and pierced my side. I glared at the _dracana_ that had shot it. A fiery pain spread throughout my thigh, and I staggered and fell.

The giant loomed over me, his spear poised.

"Bye-bye, demigod."

The metal point flashed. I rolled over to my right side, and grabbed the spear as it came down. It threw the giant off balance, and I stabbed him with my dagger. He dissolved.

"Kat!" Selena helped me stand up.

"I…I have to fight. Get Zach and the others off the boat." I winced.

"No! I'll stay with you!"

"No, Selena. Don't. Please."

She looked into my eyes.

"Fine."

Then she ran off.

Zach and Nico appeared by my side a few seconds later.

"Jump!" I yelled. "I'll protect you. I promise."

"Kat, you need help," Zach said.

"No! It's the only way."

He took a breath and offered his hand to Selena. Together, the plunged off the side of the boat and into the water.

"Overboard! Overboard!" the speaker blared. "Someone fell overboard!"

I glanced at Nico. "Go! I'll distract them."

"No! There's too many monsters. You'll die!"

"Nico, just listen to me for once. _You'll _die if you don't jump."

"I…I can't."

"Nico, I promise. I won't drown you. Seriously. We're in the middle of an attack here."

"No, Kat. I'm not worried about that. I just…I don't want to leave you. I don't want you to…die, I guess."

I blinked. This was coming from Nico? That was a first.

"Seriously," I said quietly. "Go. I won't die. I swear. I won't."

He sighed. "Fine. You swear?"

"I swear. On the River Styx."

"Okay." He leaned in toward my ear. "Don't die; remember that." I remember his lips brushing by my cheek gently. Then, he was gone.

I faced to fight the monsters that were threatening to kill my friends and me.

* * *

It seemed like eternity. It also seemed like I was invincible. I dodged attacks and swung, killing all the monsters around me. Nothing touched me. Except for the arrows.

As I was being cornered at the very edge of _Maid of the Mist VI, _an arrow stuck into my leg. This one was tipped with poison. My leg felt like it was on fire. It exploded in pain. Another arrow hit me just below the ribs and I fell overboard. Before I hit the water, I remembered one last thing: I had to keep my friends alive…and that I wasn't allowed to die.

**

* * *

**

Wow. Am I killing you guys with all those cliffhangers? :D Oh well.

**~CampHB**


	12. Chapter 12

**Zach's Side**

I flailed around in the water, wheezing for air. Beside me, Selena was trying to breathe too. Nico splashed behind us, dogging paddling and carrying something that was weighing him down. I swam to him.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Katerina."

The daughter of Poseidon was limp and hanging. Amazingly, she was still dry.

"Where's the entrance?" I called to Selena.

"I'm looking. I'm –"

She went down under the water.

"Selena!" I yelled.

I dove in after her with Nico close on my heels. Her leg had become tangled in some underwater plants, and she was trying to free herself. I drew my sword and cut her free.

"Thanks," she gasped as we came up for air.

"No prob," I said.

"Wait," she said.

To my surprise, Selena dove into the water _again. _I looked at Nico.

"Go ahead," he said. "I've got my hands full with our so-called unconscious 'savior'."

I plunged in. The water currents were dragging me down. A dark form a few yards away from me signaled that it was Selena. She was trying to move something away from the ground…

I swam closer. It was a rock. I wanted to ask her 'What the heck are you trying to do?', but I helped her instead. Buried underneath the stone was a shining crystal bracelet. The delicate bangle was made of twelve glimmering diamonds.

I opened my mouth to ask her why she needed it, but water filled my mouth and precious bubbles of air escaped. Selena quickly scooped up the bracelet and started to swim for the surface. I followed her.

I broke the surface, feeling cold air on my face. Rivulets of streaming liquid ran down from my head. I shook the water out of my hair like a dog. Selena shrieked in surprise as the freezing droplets hit her.

Her auburn hair was turning gold-red in the sunbeams. Her warm brown eyes sparked from the chilly air. She laughed.

Nico was swimming towards the side of the falls.

"Where is it?" he yelled to us.

"Where's what?" I yelled back.

"The entrance. To Iris' cave."

"Over there!" Selena pointed at below the American Falls. "We have to go under the waterfall or else the pressure from the water can break our backs. Well, along with the protection magic that Iris probably put up."

"Get air!" I yelled. "We're going down!"

"Can someone help me with her?" Nico complained as he lifted Katerina onto his back. "She's heavy."

"Okay, okay."

I swam over to Nico and grabbed one of Kat's arms, slinging it over my shoulder.

"Can she breathe?" Selena called.

"She should," Nico muttered.

"Ready?" I asked. "One, two, three!"

The water was a little murky as we stirred up silt. I kicked my legs to keep on going down. Nico and I both struggled to get deeper.

Our eyes strained to adjust to the darkness. Soon, though, I was able to see a dark cavern. I felt tremendous pressure on my back –the thundering and roaring of the falls crashing down.

The dark cavern happened to be a stone door. It was huge, looming above us. In the middle of it were twelve slots in a U formation. They were meant to hold something in them.

My lungs were starting to burn for air. I couldn't go much longer. I saw that Nico and Selena were trying to conserve their oxygen too.

Selena broke the bracelet into twelve gems. She inserted each diamond into the slot. The door rumbled, opening. We swam into it, looking up to pool of light above us. The three of us started to swim up, hoping to get fresh air. It probably was about thirty feet in depth, but if felt like thirty miles. At last, we reached the opening.

I was the first to break to the surface. My face immediately felt a rush of cool air. Nico rose up next to me.

"Get to the shore!" I yelled.

The rim of the pit was a few feet away from us. We grunted as we heaved Kat onto dry ground, then crawling up ourselves.

"Where's Selena?" I finally realized.

"What?"

"Selena!"

She was nowhere in sight. I peered down into the dark water below. No dark shape appeared.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know!" Nico answered.

My heart sank as I thought of the only possible answer.

_She didn't make it.

* * *

_

**Ugh. Sorry for the crappy chapter. I'll do better in the next one. Sorry!**

**~CampHB**


	13. Sorry

**Okay. I am sorry to say this but I will not be updating for a while…or maybe until June. My school ends June 4****th**** so I should have time to update then. But for now, I'm very sorry I can't update because I have finals in a next week. :)**

**~CampHB**


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